Profile via TMDB · Courtesy of TMDB
George Benson
Sign in to saveAmerican guitarist and singer (born 1943)
OverviewAI-generated
George Benson is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and jazz musician. Born George Washington Benson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1943, he is of African American ethnicity and a member of Jehovah's Witnesses. His musical career began in 1954, and he performs using the guitar and voice.
Benson’s work spans jazz, smooth jazz, pop music, and rhythm and blues. He has recorded for Columbia Records, Concord Records, and Warner Bros. Entertainment. His professional recognition includes a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the NEA Jazz Masters award.
Synthesized by Vinony from 25 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Europeana Sparql, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film & TV
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, playing soul jazz with Jack McDuff and others. He then launched a successful solo career, alternating between jazz, pop, R&B singing, and scat singing. His…
Known for
- The Groove Under the Groove2026
- Better Nate Than Ever — George Benson2022
- Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes — Self2022
- Gorillaz: Reject False Icons — Self2019
- It Must Schwing: The Blue Note Story — Self2018
- Jazz Open Stuttgart 2017 - Festival of World Stars and Child Prodigies — Self2017
- Quincy Jones & Friends - Live at Jazz Open Stuttgart — Self2017
- The Grant Green Story — Self2017
- Soundbreaking — Self2016
- Marcus — Self2015
via TMDB
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Group
- Country
- United States
- Active from
- 1965
- Active to
- 1967
Members
- George Benson1965–1967
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 1,182,643
- Total plays
- 13,727,198
Tags
George Benson is a jazz guitarist born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA on 22 March 1943. He started out playing straight-ahead instrumental jazz with organist Jack McDuff. Benson got his first experience playing with his several-year stint with McDuff's group. In 1964, at the age of 21, Benson recorded his first album as leader, The New Boss Guitar, with Brother Jack McDuff on organ. Benson's next recording was It's Uptown with the George Benson Quartet with Lonnie Smith on organ and Ronnie Cu
Key facts
- Born
- George Washington Benson , ( 1943-03-22 ) March 22, 1943 (age 83) , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , U.S.
- Genres
- Jazz jazz fusion smooth jazz soul jazz disco adult contemporary urban contemporary
- Occupations
- Singer musician songwriter
- Instruments
- Vocals guitar
- Years active
- 1964–present
- Labels
- Prestige Columbia Verve A&M CTI Warner Bros. GRP Concord Mascot
- Website
- georgebenson.com
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Family name
- Benson
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Pittsburgh
- Occupation
- singer-songwriter
- Religion
- Jehovah's Witnesses
- Award
- NEA Jazz Masters
- Genre
- funk
- Instrument
- voice
- Record label
- Prestige
- Official website
- georgebenson.com
- Image
- George Benson 2009.jpg
Show 7 more facts
- Commons category
- George Benson
- date of birth
- 1943-03-22
- ethnic group
- African Americans
- start of work period
- 1954-00-00
- birth name
- George Washington Benson
- name in native language
- George Benson
- social media followers
- 413000
Sources (6)
via Wikidata · CC0
Works in European collections
1 object attributed to George Benson, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana
~10 min read
Encyclopedic overview
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, playing soul jazz with Jack McDuff and others. He then launched a successful solo career, alternating between jazz, pop, R&B singing, and scat singing. His album Breezin' was certified triple-platinum, hitting No. 1 on the Billboard album chart in 1976. His concerts were well attended through the 1980s, and he still has a large following. Benson has won ten Grammy Awards and has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “George Benson” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.